Beethoven's Missa Solemnis According to Sir John Eliot Gardiner and
the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

By John Sidgwick

LONDON, 22 October 2002 - The London Barbican Hall's
Great Performers 2002-2003 series got off to a thunderous start with
Beethoven's monumental Missa Solemnis. Each time I listen to
this work, I try to put on my 1819 ears, that being the year of
composition of Missa Solemnis. Depending on the style of
performance, I can be moved, enthused or comforted in varying degrees.
But I am always left with a feeling of astonishment, and I do not need
my ancient ears for this, since the sheer force and complexity of the
work continue to exercise their hold over audiences as strongly as
ever. Nevertheless, I can only think that Beethoven's contemporaries
must have been knocked flat by it, making their way back to their
homes after a performance, shaking their heads in bemused wonderment
or a complete lack of understanding.

In a radio interview in
between rehearsals for this performance by the Monteverdi Choir and
the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Sir John Eliot
Gardiner was asked how he approached the work. Without hesitation he
replied, "With devotion", this being Beethoven's inscription
over the Kyrie (mit Andacht). And as can be expected,
Gardiner was absolutely true to his word, if devotion in this case
means a scrupulous observation of the composer's intentions.
Orchestra, choir and soloists excelled throughout in conveying the
musical and spiritual message of the work with the utmost clarity.

One
of the characteristic features of the Monteverdi Choir since it was
founded by Gardiner in 1964 when he was still an undergraduate at
Cambridge University has always been the sharp and intense focus of
sound that he manages to coax out of his singers. This has meant that
with relatively small forces—a mere thirty-six singers on this
occasion—he has constantly been able to achieve a truly massive
tonal volume when necessary, worthy of far bigger ensembles. Such
sound, on the other hand is matched by the haunting quality of the
choir's pianissimos.

To go alongside his cherished choir,
Gardiner had assembled an excellent quartet of soloists, Luba
Orgonasova (soprano), Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto), Christoph Prégardien
(tenor) and Alastair Miles (bass); each contributed in their own
individual ways and in striking fashion to the impact of the
performance, Orgonasova with her serene and soaring phrases, Stutzmann
with the beauty and intensity of sound of the true contralto, Prégardien
with his passionate outbursts and Miles with the comforting warmth of
his bass singing.

The real strength of this performance,
however, lay in the contribution of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire
et Romantique, the period instrument group that Gardiner has carefully
nurtured since he founded it in 1990. Gardiner has never gone in for
the use of period instruments simply in response to a fad; nor has he
ever claimed that any of his period instrument ensembles are
reproducing with complete accuracy the sounds that would have been
made by musicians of the time. His aim has always been to get to the
heart of the composer's intentions—and such intentions must
surely have borne in large measure the influence of the instrumental
environment of the epoch. To this, Gardiner has added the fruits of
on-going research both by himself and by the members of his orchestra
into period performance practice.

Such an approach came into
complete fruition at the recent performance. The orchestra fizzed with
exciting sound; occasionally, the strings almost hissed their
intricate chamber music-like counterpoint and the trumpets and horns
dug into you in a manner which made one wonder if this was a Mass or a
pagan festival. There was some exquisite flute and piccolo playing
(Marten Root and Neil McLaren) and the orchestra's leader, Peter
Hanson, provided a subtle and moving rendition of the extended violin
solo passage in the Benedictus.

One can suppose that
the minor blemishes in the Barbican performance such as a lack of
precision in some of the choir entrances, will be ironed out by
Gardiner's team in future performances. These, however, were as chaff
in the wind compared with the excellence of the London performance
overall.

John Sidgwick writes on
music in Britain and France for Culturekiosque.com.